Teaching Mathematics based on Integrating Reading Strategies and Working Memory in Elementary School

Abstract

This study strived to determine the effectiveness of integrative teaching of reading strategies and working memory on basic math and problem-solving skills. It is a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study carried out on 50 second-graders from Chahashk Shandiz village in the academic year of 2020-2021 who were randomly selected by cluster sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The intervention was performed by cellphone software through virtual education in two steps. The experimental group underwent integrative training for 20 sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Colored Progressive Matrices (1956) and a researcher-made story problem-solving and arithmetic skills test were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and one-way multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the integrative teaching of reading strategies and working memory enhanced the basic math skills, with an effect size of 0.67 in second-grade elementary students (P<0.001). According to the results, integrative teaching improved students' problem-solving skills but did not affect their skills in arithmetic operations. Therefore, second-grade elementary teachers can use this method to enhance their story problem-solving skills. Keywords: integrative teaching, reading strategies, working memory, basic math skills